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An amendment, offered by Mr. Bartlett, numbered 53 printed in House Report 112-485 to require a report from the U.S. Marine Corps regarding the proposed transfer of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the U.S. Marine Corps for the expansion of 29 Palms for a Training Range Facility.

1:08:16 A.M. H.R. 4310 DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions H. Res. 661, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Bartlett amendment No. 53.

1:10:58 A.M. H.R. 4310 On agreeing to the Bartlett amendment; Agreed to by voice vote.

With the expantion right now, the Marines do not really have to prove why they need JV. They just point to a document from 10 years ago which suggests that they expand the base west.

What this admendment does, is force them to reexamineEVERYTHING... Well....times have changed since 10 years ago, the Marines focus is different, they are shrinking with the task force review, their needs are different and their budget is way smaller.

Basically this is the government telling the marines: "we are really strapped for cash, do you guys REALLY need to expand this base? Prove it to us and also examine all the effectsof expanding it"

53. AN AMENDMENT TO BE OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE BARTLETT OF MARYLAND OR HIS DESIGNEE, DEBATABLE FOR 10 MINUTES
At the end of subtitle F of title XXVIII, add the following new section:
SEC. 28XX. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS PENDING REPORT REGARDING ACQUISITION OF LAND AND DEVELOPMENT OF A TRAINING RANGE FACILITY ADJACENT TO THE MARINE CORPS GROUND AIR COMBAT CENTER TWENTY NINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA.
(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Marine Corps has studied the feasibility of acquiring land and developing a training range facility to conduct Marine Expeditionary Brigade level live-fire training on or near the West Coast.
(2) The Bureau of Land Management estimates on national economic impact show $261.5 million in commerce at risk.
(3) Economic impact on the local community is estimated to be $71.1 million.
(b) Limitation of Funds Pending Report-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Navy may not obligate or expend funds for the transfer of land or development of a new training range on land adjacent to the Marine Corps Ground Air Combat Center Twenty Nine Palms, California until the Secretary of the Navy has provided the Congressional defense committees a report on the Marine Corps' efforts with respect to the proposed training range.
(2) ELEMENTS OF REPORT- The report required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and shall include the following:
(A) A description of the actual training requirements for the proposed range and where those training requirements are currently being met to support combat deployments.
(B) Identify the impact on off-road vehicle recreational users of the land, the economic impact on the local economy, the recreation industry, and any other stakeholders.
(C) Identify any concerns discussed with the Bureau of Land Management regarding their assessments of the impact on other users.
(D) Identify the impact on the State of California's 1980 Desert Conservation plan regarding allocation of the Off Highway Vehicle Recreation Areas.
(E) The potential to use the same land without transfer, but under specific permits for use provided by the (such as agreements at other locations under permit from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management).
(F) Any potential on other Bureau of Land Management lands proximate to the Marine Corps Ground Air Combat Center Twenty Nine Palms or other locations in the geographic region.
(3) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WAIVER- In the event of urgent national need, the Secretary of Defense may notify the Congressional Committees and waive the requirement for this report.

53. AN AMENDMENT TO BE OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE BARTLETT OF MARYLAND OR HIS DESIGNEE, DEBATABLE FOR 10 MINUTES
At the end of subtitle F of title XXVIII, add the following new section:
SEC. 28XX. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS PENDING REPORT REGARDING ACQUISITION OF LAND AND DEVELOPMENT OF A TRAINING RANGE FACILITY ADJACENT TO THE MARINE CORPS GROUND AIR COMBAT CENTER TWENTY NINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA.
(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Marine Corps has studied the feasibility of acquiring land and developing a training range facility to conduct Marine Expeditionary Brigade level live-fire training on or near the West Coast.
(2) The Bureau of Land Management estimates on national economic impact show $261.5 million in commerce at risk.
(3) Economic impact on the local community is estimated to be $71.1 million.
(b) Limitation of Funds Pending Report-(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Navy may not obligate or expend funds for the transfer of land or development of a new training range on land adjacent to the Marine Corps Ground Air Combat Center Twenty Nine Palms, California until the Secretary of the Navy has provided the Congressional defense committees a report on the Marine Corps' efforts with respect to the proposed training range.
(2) ELEMENTS OF REPORT- The report required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and shall include the following:
(A) A description of the actual training requirements for the proposed range and where those training requirements are currently being met to support combat deployments.
(B) Identify the impact on off-road vehicle recreational users of the land, the economic impact on the local economy, the recreation industry, and any other stakeholders.
(C) Identify any concerns discussed with the Bureau of Land Management regarding their assessments of the impact on other users.
(D) Identify the impact on the State of California's 1980 Desert Conservation plan regarding allocation of the Off Highway Vehicle Recreation Areas.
(E) The potential to use the same land without transfer, but under specific permits for use provided by the (such as agreements at other locations under permit from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management).
(F) Any potential on other Bureau of Land Management lands proximate to the Marine Corps Ground Air Combat Center Twenty Nine Palms or other locations in the geographic region.(3) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WAIVER- In the event of urgent national need, the Secretary of Defense may notify the Congressional Committees and waive the requirement for this report.

So let me get this straight...
The Marines havent justified why and how much it really is going to cost the Govt.? This whole time all they have said is "We want this land for training our boys" Or am I reading into this wrong?

I'm only questioning what has just been brought to light. I've read and written and signed and heard so much that I am starting to get lost other than me wanting Johnson Valley to remain ours and not theirs. Either way, sounds like we are pulling hard for a win and I am happy that my individual contributions have not been unheard.

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So let me get this straight...
The Marines havent justified why and how much it really is going to cost the Govt.? This whole time all they have said is "We want this land for training our boys" Or am I reading into this wrong?

.

The basis of expanding 29 is a 2004 document on MEB training requirements...written during a time when the Marines were being used out of thier element...as a 2nd land army. When asked "why" they needed to expand into JV, they just refered to that document. This report makes them re-evaluate the need for expantion during a time of budget constraints, force reduction and a force structure review, bringing the Marines back to thier roots...as an amphbious 1st response force.

also currently, the Navy barely has the amphibous ships needed to land just 1 MEB.

As for funding, they have not included the amounts needed for security of the expantion...how will they keep people out of an area that has been open to the public for 30+ years? So yeah, they have not done the leg-work there either.

Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word in support of Bartlett’s Amendment 243. We are happy to report that this bill passed! This support was time sensitive in nature. If you look at current minutes from Congress from May 17th, found here: http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx you'll see that HR4310 was discussed yesterday and the Amendment was passedat about 11PM Eastern. It was important to let our representatives know that voting to pass that bill was the right thing to do.

Why do we support this Amendment?

4310 is the bill to approve the 2013 budget for the Military. All Military branches need this bill to pass to have their funding for 2013, which makes it hard for this bill to be fully vetoed, unless you are the President of the US. However, the bill can be amended to make it difficult for the Marines to acquire Johnson Valley easily. This is done by placing an amendment on the bill which will require the Marines to do further work to prove that they need this land, and to work with the OHV community to see the impact it will have on our industry and our community. The fact that a Congressman has stood up and sponsored an amendment like this, on an appropriations bill no less, will get our cause a lot of attention in DC and also show The Marines that we mean business.

How was this Amendment created?

Senator Bartlett was contacted by several members of the off-road community during our OHV Lobby Days. He was educated on the situation in Johnson Valley. Several off-road advocates have kept him in the loop on what is happening and with 4310 appearing in Congress, the time was right to make a political move. There is usually very little time to get an amendment approved and voted on once a bill is on the floor, so several members of the off-road community acted quickly to help Congressman Bartlett draft this resolution.

Will this Amendment Stop the Marines from Taking Johnson Valley?
This is a tough question to answer. There are several things the Marines need in order to take over the Johnson Valley OHV Area. 1. They need to release their Final Environmental Impact Study. This FEIS was supposed to be released last month, however it has already been delayed a month. Some speculate this delay is because of the efforts of off roaders to date. 2. The Marines need to have the funds to finance managing the expansion of the Marine Base. Part of that funding could be incorporated into Bill HR4310. The one to which Congressman Bartlett added the Amendment requiring the Marines to produce further documentation. 3. They need an act of Congress to transfer the land from BLM to the Department of The Navy. If they don’t get out the FEIS, and they don’t have the budget for the expansion, it will be more difficult for The Marines to get an act of Congress to approve the expansion. We plan on trying to stop the expansion and work with the Marines at each one of these steps.

What else is being done to Save The Hammers?

Many individuals are still volunteering their time on a daily and weekly basis to continue the fight to Save the Hammers and Johnson Valley. A group of off road organizations have come together as members of the California Motorized Recreation Council (CMRC). CMRC is comprised of groups like AMA, CORVA, ORBA, CAL4Wheel, District 36 and Disctrict 37 among others. A sub-committee focused on Johnson Valley has been created that meets weekly discussing how to save Johnson Valley. CMRC voted a month ago to hire a lobbyist group, The Livingston Group, in Washington DC to help us take our fight to the capitol. The Livingston Group agreed to work with us in part because they saw how hard the off road community is working. Our letter writing campaign which produced more than 20,000 letters last year, and our Economic Impact Report that was created based on a survey completed by thousands earlier this year, were both viewed as examples of how organized our efforts have been to Save Johnson Valley. The efforts made by many during OHV Lobby days in April to contact their local representatives and educate them on Johnson Valley have also lead to our success with taking this fight to Washington.

What else can I do to help Save the Hammers?

Keep educating your elected officials. If you have not written to or asked for a meeting with your congressman or senator, please do! We have found that when we need to act quickly with our representatives, it is much easier when we have been in regular communication with them prior to needing their support. They know who we are when we call and email if we’ve been in to meet with them.

Keep responding to our requests when we ask you to call or email your representatives. We know it gets tiresome after a while, and it’s hard to see that we are making a difference, but I assure you we are! They hear us when we speak to them in numbers. Our elected officials and The Marines need to see we are organized and continuing to fight to keep our public lands open!

Make donations and encourage others to do so as well! Hiring a lobbyist group and fighting the Marines is an expensive endeavor. We continually need to raise funds to keep this fight going. Our goal is $250,000 and we have raised about $90,000 of that so far. If you have products or services you’d like to auction off, if you’d like to make a donation or know of a company that would like to make a donation to help Save the Hammers; this is what is needed.

This is a cause being fought for on many levels. Anything and everything you can do to help Save the Hammers is greatly appreciated. Thank you for continuing to fight to keep the Johnson Valley OHV area open.

The basis of expanding 29 is a 2004 document on MEB training requirements...written during a time when the Marines were being used out of thier element...as a 2nd land army. When asked "why" they needed to expand into JV, they just refered to that document. This report makes them re-evaluate the need for expantion during a time of budget constraints, force reduction and a force structure review, bringing the Marines back to thier roots...as an amphbious 1st response force.

also currently, the Navy barely has the amphibous ships needed to land just 1 MEB.

As for funding, they have not included the amounts needed for security of the expantion...how will they keep people out of an area that has been open to the public for 30+ years? So yeah, they have not done the leg-work there either.

That's what I had thought but was unsure. Awesome! I have a few buddies in 29 Palms and they don't even see the advantage of more land.

__________________You are my Crumple Zone!To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-4, thanks for the Cliff's notes... I don't think I ever read the "bounty thread" so I was/am clueless on this. Sounds to me like camo is a HGTD douchebag though. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I'm super proud of all of you who helped and all the organizations who banded together for a common cause. Looks like what we are doing is working! We don't get many victories, who while this fight isn't nearly over, it's nice to have a win

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